1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system, apparatus and associated methodology for interactively monitoring and detecting driver drowsiness. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system, apparatus and associated methodology that provide a driver with drowsiness detection exercises to determine the driver's drowsiness level, and provides the driver with drowsiness reduction exercises to reduce his or her drowsiness level.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Each year drivers suffering from drowsiness cause numerous accidents on the nation's roadways. Drowsy drivers are less aware of their surroundings, and react more slowly than an alert driver. Even if a drowsy driver timely reacts, his or her reaction is often less precise than that of an alert driver. Thus, a drowsy driver is less able to handle quickly changing roadway conditions even if the driver is not in danger of actually falling asleep.
Drivers become drowsy for numerous reasons. For example, a driver may be suffering from lack of sleep, may be fatigued after a long-day's work, or may be under the influence of medications. Drivers may also become drowsy while driving late at night, driving for long stints without a break, or driving on a desolate road with little or no visual stimulation. Other factors that contribute to driver drowsiness include number of passengers, time of day, ambient lighting, temperature, etc.
Compounding the danger of driving while drowsy is a drowsy driver's inability to correctly assess his or her own level of drowsiness. Often drowsy drivers fail to recognize that their driving skills are markedly impaired, even at the point of falling asleep. Therefore, objective methods and systems are needed to detect drowsiness levels in drivers, and to reduce these drowsiness levels once detected.
One conventional way of detecting drowsiness uses cameras to analyze driver eye movements. Another conventional method uses a lamp installed at a conspicuous location on the car dashboard. The lamp is turned on at random time intervals, and the driver must turn the lamp off by pressing a button. Drowsiness is then detected by measuring the driver's response time. However, both of these conventional methods of detecting driver drowsiness are imprecise and prone to false positive readings (i.e. detecting driver drowsiness when the driver is actually alert), and neither quantify a driver's drowsiness level.
Other conventional methods focus on reducing driver drowsiness either independently, or in conjunction with one or both of the methods described above. One such conventional system adjusts the temperature within the vehicle once driver drowsiness is detected. Another conventional method employs an audible alarm that the driver must deactivate by pressing a deactivation button. A third conventional method does not attempt to detect driver drowsiness at all. Instead, the method merely provides the driver with a series of drowsiness reduction exercises at random time intervals, and leaves the driver to perform the exercises unchecked. As such, this conventional method is not able to determine an effectiveness of a given drowsiness reduction exercise, nor even if the driver is performing the exercise at all. Further, the one-way communication of this method may even allow the driver to ignore the system because driver input is not required.
Moreover, none of the above-described conventional methods quantify a driver drowsiness level, and therefore none of the above-described methods are capable of determining the effectiveness of their respective drowsiness counter measure. Thus, these conventional methods cannot adapt according to the drowsiness level of the driver, and cannot provide the driver with an array of different stimulus to stave off drowsiness. Instead, they merely provide a driver with the same stimulus (i.e. temperature variation and/or audible alarm) to counter drowsiness, even though such unchanging stimulus loses effect with each repeated application.
As first recognized by the present inventors, a need exists for a system that can precisely and interactively detect driver drowsiness in order to quantify the driver's drowsiness level, and that can provide a varied array of drowsiness reduction exercises to the driver based on the drowsiness level.